The weather bureau said Brisbane and the south-east could expect temperatures of up to 38 degrees tomorrow - some of the hottest February weather in eight years.

Humidity levels of up to 70% have been compared to Asian capitals like Singapore and Bangkok.

The hot conditions are expected to continue through most of the week before dropping for the weekend.

The Sunshine Coast is expected to reach 37 though inland areas could be even higher.

Residents in Ipswich, Oxley, Laidley and Gatton can expect temperatures of up to 39 degrees.

The wild weather has claimed two lives in Queensland - as well as contributing to a fatal crash on the Sunshine Coast late Friday.

The latest fatality involved a 68-year-old man who died when the vehicle he was travelling caught in floodwater at Wallaville, south of Gin Gin.

Higgins Storm Chasing posted this image of flash flooding in one street in Tewantin near Noosa.

SUNDAY UPDATE: While two severe thunderstorms were recently tracked east of Toowoomba and North of Warwick, the immediate threat of severe thunderstorms in Southeast Queensland has passed.

Warnings still stand as redevelopment of severe thunderstorms is still possible. The situation will continue to be monitored and further warnings will be issued if necessary.

The next warning is due to be issued by 4:30 pm.

A more general severe thunderstorm warning is also current for parts of the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Capricornia, Wide Bay and Burnett, Maranoa and Warrego, Darling Downs and Granite Belt and Southeast Coast districts.

BOM

Tewantin has recorded 78mm since 9am

Pomona recorded 48mm in thirty minutes

Palen Creek recorded 68mm in one hour

Boreen Point recorded 69mm in the hour up to 5:05PM

5:11PM UPDATE: A severe storm has been detected to the north-east of Gympie on Saturday afternoon.

The storm is currently heading south-east towards Noosa.

The storm is forecast to affect the area north and west of Noosa Heads, Glenwood and Boreen Point over the next hour.

If severe thunderstorms develop in the Southeast Queensland area (east of Dalby from Rainbow Beach to Stanthorpe), a more detailed Severe Thunderstorm Warning will be issued to people in this area.

UPDATE: Severe thunderstorms were detected on weather radar near the area east of Gympie and the area northeast of Gympie on Saturday afternoon.

These thunderstorms are moving towards the southeast.

They are forecast to affect the area north of Noosa Heads, Boreen Point and the area north of Kilkivan by 4:45 pm and waters off Noosa Heads, the area northwest of Noosa Heads and the area northwest of Gympie by 5:15 pm.

Damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding are likely.

Pomona recorded 48mm in 30 minutes earlier this afternoon.

Boreen Point has recorded 32mm in the past 30 minutes.

PHOTOS: Storm clean up in Scarness in Hervey Bay

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services advises that people should:

* Move your car under cover or away from trees.
* Secure loose outdoor items.
* Never drive, walk or ride through flood waters. If it's flooded, forget it.
* Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
* Avoid using the telephone during a thunderstorm.
* Beware of fallen trees and powerlines.
* For emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500.

Earlier: THUNDERSTORMS are moving in a band across Queensland towards the southeast.

They are forecast to affect the area south of Biggenden by 4:15 pm and the area north of Goomeri and the area north of Kilkivan by 4:45 pm.

Damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding are likely, the weather bureau said in its latest advice.

A more general severe thunderstorm warning is also current for the Wide Bay and Burnett and parts of the Central Coast and Whitsundays, Central Highlands and Coalfields, Capricornia, Darling Downs and Granite Belt and Southeast Coast districts.

2:15PM UPDATE: Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours.

Locations which may be affected include Emerald, Biloela, Blackwater, Baralaba and Springsure.

6PM UPDATE: The Sunshine Coast has witnessed a spectacular lightning show accompanied by strong winds and bouts of heavy rain along with areas across Queensland.

The Bureau of Meteorology warns that, at 5:45 pm, severe thunderstorms were detected on weather radar near Noosa Heads and the area northeast of Gympie.

These thunderstorms are moving slowly towards the east and northeast. They are forecast to affect Lake Cooloola, Toolara and Tin Can Bay by 6:15 pm and Rainbow Beach, Inskip and Inskip Point by 6:45 pm.

Damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding are likely, the bureau says.

A more general severe thunderstorm warning is also current for the Capricornia, Wide Bay and Burnett, Southeast Coast and parts of the Northern Tropical Coast and Tablelands, Central Highlands and Coalfields and Darling Downs and Granite Belt districts.

WATCH BELOW: The Sunshine Coast storm hit with enough force to pull large trees from the ground

Sunshine Coast storm knocks tree on to house at Buderim:
An enormous tree has been torn from the ground in Buderim as the Sunshine Coast was lashed by storms on January 29, 2016. It landed just shy of the house, and appears to have done no damage to home. Video by Owen Jacques.

UPDATE: 4:58PM: THE two storms warned about in the previous update have become one. The new storm is heading north-east, north of Gympie.

A new thunderstorm has appeared in the warning directly over the top of Caloundra and Maroochydore and is heading toward Noosa.

The Bureau is warning of damaging winds and heavy rain which could lead to flash flooding being likely.

A thunderstorm over the Gold Coast is expected to hit Coolangatta shortly.

There are currently flood warnings for the Fitzroy, Condamine, Balonne and Georgina Rivers as well as Eyre Creek.

A moderate flood warning exists for the Maranoa River with moderate flood levels possible at Woodlands during this evening, though there's no further significant rain expected over the weekend.

BOM

4:52PM: 67mm of rain has been recorded in 30 minutes at Rathdowney.

4:35PM: THE latest update from the Bureau of Meteorology shows two ferocious thunderstorms heading towards the the coastline from west of Gympie and Rainbow Beach.

The system that has delivered a drenching to south-west Queensland is now approaching the Queensland-New South Wales border towards Ballina.

The storm delivered 111kmh winds in Oakey at 2.25pm, 90kmh winds at Spitfire Channel and dumped 27mm of rain on Toowoomba in just 10 minutes.

The more northern storms are likely to hit northwest of Gympie, Rainbow Beach and Inskip Point by 5.30pm.

One of the storms is heading slightly north-east, and is heading towards Rainbow Beach.

The second cell further inland is heading towards areas south of Rainbow Beach and could potentially have an impact on Gympie.

The Bureau has also maintaining a general severe thunderstorm warning for the Capricornia, Wide Bay, Burnett, Southeast Coast and parts of the Central Highlands, coalfields, Darling Downs and Granite Belt regions.

Rain, thunder and lightning has now begun hitting the central part of the Sunshine Coast.

Ipswich, Toowoomba and Brisbane are no longer in the thunderstorm warning area.

EARLIER

The Bureau of Meteorology has updated its storm warnings for Queensland.

Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds, heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and large hailstones in the warning area over the next several hours.

UPDATE 3:50PM: The Bureau of Meteorology warns that, at 3:50 pm, severe thunderstorms were detected on weather radar near Boonah, the area between Boonah and Beaudesert, Casino(NSW) and northern Moreton Bay.

These thunderstorms are moving towards the east to southeast.

They are forecast to affect Beaudesert, northern Moreton Island and Cape Moreton by 4:20 pm and Coolangatta and Tallebudgera by 4:50 pm.

Damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding are likely.

At 2:25pm, 111km/h was recorded at Oakey.

At 2:40pm, 27mm was recorded in 10 minutes at Toowoomba.

At 3:47pm, 90km/h was recorded at Spitfire Channel.

UPDATE 3:39PM: Ergon Energy has tweeted that the storms are already impacting their network, with supply cut to 16k customers in the South Burnett, Darling Downs and Central Highlands areas.

Due to the extremely moist and unstable air mass and increasing environmental vertical wind shear, thunderstorm activity is expected to be active, particularly in areas south of Clermont in Central Queensland.

In the north of the state, afternoon and evening thunderstorms are expected to be quite extensive.

Damaging winds and very heavy rainfall, which may lead to flash flooding is possible, particularly about the Gulf Country, northern sector of the Northern Goldfields and the east coast ranges.

Elevated thunderstorms are possible across central and western Queensland behind the surface trough but damaging winds in these regions are only a slight risk.

Over the southern half of the state, severe thunderstorms are likely due to the alignment of all major factors.

Due to the strong environmental shear, strong to severe organised cells, with the possibility of a few supercells developing this afternoon and evening.

Early initiation is expected over the Darling Downs and Central highlands, which will extend towards the coast during the afternoon and evening.

Damaging winds, large hail and very heavy rainfall, which may lead to flash flooding are likely amongst the strongest thunderstorms. Given the environment, destructive winds are also possible.

Severe thunderstorm activity will continue across the state tomorrow as a deep surface trough combines with a strong upper trough across northern and eastern Queensland.

Along with this, an extremely rich and unstable air mass is expected to lie ahead of the surface trough, which will consequently cause extensive thunderstorm activity across the state.

In the north, thunderstorms are likely during the afternoon and evening with heavy rainfall, which may lead to flash flooding possible.

This is likely in particular across the Peninsular where increasing convergence and weak steering will occur. Given the warm temperatures, damaging winds are also a slight risk.

In the south, conditions will be similar to today with high moisture content, strong instability and shear once again producing strong thunderstorm activity across the Southeast, Central Highlands and Coalfields, Capricornia and Wide Bay and Burnett.

Due to mid-level cloud and a shallow depth of moisture, severe thunderstorms are less likely across the western Darling Downs and Gold Coast, however they cannot be ruled out.

The likely impacts for severe thunderstorms will be damaging winds, large hail and very heavy rainfall, which may lead to flash flooding.

Due to the likelihood of storm organisation, destructive winds are also possible.

The warning, issued on Thursday night, now covers from northern New South Wales to Rockhampton with storms most likely to start Friday afternoon.

Areas north of Rockhampton, including Mackay, have been listed as under 'high risk' rather than extreme.

The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed the potential for extreme weather, even the possibility of tornadoes.

Jeff Higgins, in a video briefing released on his site, said the weather system remained in the top 3 he had seen in the past year for potential for heavy rain, flash flooding, severe lightning, thunder and hail.

Temperatures of up to 35 degrees are expected in some Queensland towns.

Mr Higgins said rainfall could vary greatly across the south-east from just 5 to 10mm to more than 150mm under a severe thunderstorm.

Mitchell had received 160mm of rain in one storm, with reports of up to 200mm this week, he said.

Already, the Sunshine Coast town of Nambour got a taste of the storms ahead with a midnight storm on Thursday night which included heavy rain and cracking lightning.

There was 145mm of rain at Radar Hill, 129mm at Mapleton and 104mm at Nambour.

Mr Higgins presented maps which show the extreme risk from Lismore through to Rockhampton and out west to Emerald.

In NSW, it includes Lismore and Coffs Harbour.

Most of the activity is predicted for late Friday and then Saturday.

He tipped the school pick-up time could be the first signs of the storms on Friday afternoon in a post on his website.

Mr Higgins said in the most severe storms, hail of up to 8cm in diameter was possible.

He urged people in the vast extreme risk zone, which includes south-east Queensland, to take precautions, including tying down loose items like trampolines and outdoor furniture.

He said if motorists were caught in a downpour, they should pull over and keep well clear of trees and power lines if possible.

Mr Higgins said the chances of further extreme weather on Sunday was only 50/50 at the moment with most of the activity likely to be Friday and Saturday.

He said the storms were likely to start in the Darling Downs and then move towards Logan, Brisbane, Ipswich, and then coastal areas, including the Sunshine Coast.

WEATHER gurus Higgins Storm Chasers have issued a warning about severe storms and possible supercells to impact the state from Brisbane to Mackay on Friday.

The Higgins Storm Chasers website states that there is an extreme risk of severe storms and possible supercells are forecast to heavily impact the entire South East of the state including central districts on Friday.

"We have a developing surface and upper trough over inland Queensland during Wednesday and Thursday with an incredibly moist unstable airmass to it's east generating storms and rain. This system will shift east and peak on Friday as a very potent storm set up" Jeff Higgins said

"As far as severe storm set ups are concerned this ranks in the top five over the past 12 months and people need to be made well aware of the dangerous potential during Friday."

Higgins explains supercell forecast :
This video, released by Higgins Storm Chasers, explains why they have forecast a supercell to hit Queensland on Friday.